With the violinist hailing from London and the ghatam vidwan from the U.S. this performance was called the MLA concert (Musicians Living Abroad). Guru Karraikkudi Mani organised these shows in association with Sabhas. Thus Sangeetha Sivakumar sang in the company of A.G.A Gnanasundaram and Ravi Balasubramaniam. S. Aravindh provided support on the mridangam.
Sangeetha began with Tyagaraja’s Harikhambhodi piece, “Sanithodi” adorning it with kalpanaswaras that flowed freely. Gnanasundaram proved his mettle keeping pace with her. Aravindh’s posture while playing and resting his hands on the mridangam all reminded one of Karraikkudi Mani and our guess was proved right when he clarified it at the end of the concert. Aravindh, in co ordination with Ravi Balasubramanyam, embellished the swara segment for ‘Sanithodi’with remarkable anticipation.
“Yagnathulu” (Jayamanohari-Adi-Tyagaraja) was a good choice before the evening’s sub-main Poorvikalyani. Sangeetha began at a leisurely pace and took her time to build the ragam. With a voice that has thickened, her lengthy sancharas and meaningful pauses between phrases were refreshing. Gnanasundaram justified his travel from the U.K. by a reply where suswara ruled.
Sangeetha maintained the same tempo for the kriti, “Ninnu Vinaa” (misra chapu-Syama Sastry) that saw her moving into niraval at “Paramalopulanoo,” followed by durita kala swaraprastharam. Ravi’s enthusiasm to exhibit his imagination was understandable. Sangeetha packed “Maa Ramanan” ( Hindolam-Adi-Sivan) with emotion.
Bhairavi, taken up next, saw Sangeetha unleash her imagination with telling effect. It was full of energy and the breathtaking brigas that were absent in the sub-main appeared and made their impact. The landings were precise. After such a vintage treat the choice can be nothing other than Tyagaraja and “Thana Yuni Brova” was exemplary. Perfection marked both niraval and swaras that were executed in two speeds .This was followed by a thani where Aravindh and Ravi Balasubramanyam combined understandingly to make statements on rhythm.
